Stage 2 of Taylor River Improvement Project

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Marlborough District Council’s Environment Committee has agreed in principle to fund $209,600 over four years to enable stage two of the Taylor River Improvement Project, matching a government grant.

The government grant of $261,950 was applied for earlier this year and today’s decision by Council to fund stage two means once final approval from the Ministry for the Environment Freshwater Improvement Fund is received, the programme to help restore the health of the town’s Taylor River can get underway.

Focusing on the two main issues facing the river - E.coli and sedimentation from run-off and bank erosion - a local stakeholder group, including the Council’s Reserves team, the local landscape group, schools, iwi, viticulture and pastoral farming representatives, will expand the riparian plantings along the riverbank over the next five years.

Native plantings will not only act as a buffer, protecting the Taylor River and its main feeder Doctors Creek from sediment, but will also provide shading and benefit the ecology in the streams.

Blenheim’s Taylor River is a central feature of the town and although it’s a floodway, it is also an important recreational area. These two important improvements will allow the river to become swimmable most of the time.